NFL: Ebner thrilled to join Patriots

It took almost five hours for an Ohio State player to be selected on the final day of the NFL draft, but the long wait wasn't the biggest surprise yesterday.

Bill Rabinowitz, The Columbus Dispatch

It took almost five hours for an Ohio State player to be selected on the final day of the NFL draft, but the long wait wasn’t the biggest surprise yesterday.

Just minutes after the Cincinnati Bengals selected running back Daniel Herron in the sixth round, the New England Patriots took special-teams ace Nate Ebner.

That Ebner was drafted — at No.?197 overall — and four-year Ohio State starting center Michael Brewster wasn’t qualifies as a stunner. Brewster was considered a likely mid-round selection. He signed a free-agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, just two hours north of his home in Orlando, Fla.

Another undrafted Buckeyes player, linebacker Andrew Sweat, agreed to a free-agent contract with the Cleveland Browns.

The Ebner pick was so out of the blue that even ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. was rendered almost speechless. He said he had Ebner as his 165th-rated safety.

Ebner, a walk-on who earned a scholarship last season, played only three snaps on defense for the Buckeyes last year. But New England drafted him for his relentlessness on special teams.

“I hoped I would get a chance to be on a team, especially the Patriots,” Ebner said in a call with Patriots media members. “Words can’t describe how excited I am to be part of this organization.”

Ebner, a Hilliard Davidson graduate, didn’t play football in high school. Instead, he became an elite rugby player. He decided to try out for the Buckeyes football team and became known for his fearlessness in kick coverage. He jumped onto the radar of NFL teams with a strong performance at Ohio State’s pro day in March.

Ebner will be joined on the Patriots by a fellow Hilliard native. Hilliard Darby graduate Jeremy Ebert was one of three other players with local ties drafted yesterday. New England took Ebert, a receiver from Northwestern, with the 235th overall pick.

The first central Ohio player taken yesterday was Michigan State receiver B.J. Cunningham, a Westerville South graduate. The Miami Dolphins made him the 183rd overall selection.

Brewster was projected to be perhaps a second-round draft pick a year ago if he’d left Ohio State early. But he stayed, in part to help lead the Buckeyes through their scandal-plagued 2011 season.

“I see people tweeting, saying, ‘I feel sorry for Brewster,’ blah, blah, blah, ‘He should have left after his junior year,’?” Brewster said from his parents’ home in Orlando. “But I’m an optimist. I know my ability, and Jacksonville is a team that had been in touch with me. “They didn’t draft a lineman today, and they’re starting fresh with new ownership, new coaches. … I kept my fingers crossed every time they popped up on the draft board, but they had other needs, and who on earth would have ever thought I’d go undrafted?”Sweat said he was offered a contract by five teams, including the Bengals. But the lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan picked the Browns.

“It happened so fast,” Sweat said. “A ton of teams called. They (the Browns) seemed to be the most interested. They said they really liked me. They just said, ‘You have an opportunity to make the team here. Get to work.’?”

Sweat had hoped to be drafted after overcoming two late-season injuries — a concussion and a dislocated elbow. He said he is fully recovered from both. Ohio State right tackle J.B. Shugarts also signed a free-agent contract with the Browns.

Dispatch reporter Tim May contributed to this story.

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

@brdispatch

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